A climb into the record books

Next time you find yourself grumbling about a broken elevator, consider Nick Wirsching.

On Sunday, the 22-year-old West Chicago man climbed the stairs at the Sears Tower four times -- that's 8,436 steps -- voluntarily.

The feat set a record for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, which hosts the Go Vertical Chicago event every year as a cancer research fundraiser.

"It's an extreme event," said Katie Levine, director of development for the foundation. "But he wasn't out of breath, he wasn't winded."

Wirsching -- an extreme sports lover who has jumped into frigid Lake Michigan with a Polar Bear Club and traveled from Chicago to Mackinac Island by sailboat regatta -- says he did the 103 flights once and decided to just keep on going.